Sir William Hudson KBE FRS (27 April 1896 – 12 September 1978) was a New Zealand-born engineer who headed construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme for hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia from 1949 to 1967, when he reluctantly retired at 71.

[1] During his time studying in London, he visited the site of an early attempt to put a tunnel under the river Severn, an endeavour undertaken by his ancestor William Fendall among others.

Hudson served with the British Army in France (for three years), worked for Armstrong Whitworth & Co, as assistant engineer on the Mangahao hydro-electric scheme, New Zealand (1922–1924), then as engineer-in-charge, Arapuni power station, New Zealand (1924–1927).

He worked on further dams in New Zealand (1928–1930), was involved in Galloway hydro-electric scheme, Scotland (1931–1937), was resident engineer on the Woronora Dam, Sydney, Australia, and was chief construction engineer and engineer-in-chief at the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board, Sydney.

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1955 Queen's Birthday Honours, in recognition of his service as chairman of SMHEA.